Dolly delivers free books to Tallaght kids

A NEW free book programme for children in Ireland that is championed by country and western star Dolly Parton has been launched in Tallaght.

Dolly’s dream to get children to develop a love of books and reading early in life is coming to the Southside as her charity teams up with local partners for the initiative.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) gifts books to young children across the world and will now be available, free, to all children up to five-years-of-age living in Dublin 24.

This is the first time that the Imagination Library has been offered in Ireland. It is being piloted in Tallaght under the coordination of the Childhood Development Initiative (CDI) and with the support of An Post, Rotary Club Dublin and Shamrock Rovers Football club.

 Launching the project, Dolly Parton called on parents in Dublin 24 to take advantage of the opportunity and get their children reading. 

 “You can never get enough books into the hands of young children,” Dolly delcared. “I know there are children in Ireland with their own dreams – the dream of becoming a doctor, an inventor, or a teacher.

“Who knows, maybe a writer, or singer. The seeds of these dreams can often be found in books and the seeds planted in a community can grow across the world.”

 The programme has now gone live and parents can register their children via the link button at the CDI website at www.cdi.ie/imaginationlibrary.

 Tallaght based prevention and early intervention organisation CDI is responsible for enrolling children and will use its network to drive and track take up. An Post has committed to free postage of the books in Dublin 24 for one year.

 CDI Chief Executive Marian Quinn encouraged parents to register.

 “I am really delighted that the Imagination Library is coming to Ireland,” she said. “We aim to reach 3,200 children with 21,600 books in Dublin 24 in the first year alone. Our aim is to then scale up to other parts of the country.”

 Once signed up the child will receive a free high-quality book to keep every month until they are five. The books will be addressed to the child and posted directly to their home. It is available to all children in each household and siblings will get different age-appropriate books.

The programme is also being supported by Shamrock Rovers FC.

Club Chairman Jonathan Roche said: “We support what is good for local families and our local community in terms of education, health and well-being. As a club we are proud to represent the Tallaght community and promote numerous local initiatives. This is a brilliant project.”